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How Important is good frontman in a band?

MyTomomi

MyTomomi

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Aug 15, 2017
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#1
Hello Everyone! I'm currently having a dilemma on my current trio band. I'm losing my interest already after our third gig. Our leader is just not a good frontman for the band. His voice is bland (below average) and his personality on stage is non existent. He prefers to dial his amp during break rather than talking to the crowd. He sometimes forget a line or two and a few chords on a song. He is a great guitarist though.

He and the drummer are good dudes and I really want to be in the band. The drummer and I already suggested to the leader that we need a vocalist but he insisted that he will improve soon enough. I don't have time with that though, I feel embarrassed everytime we are performing onstage.

How important is good frontman for you? Will you leave a band if you don't like his voice and onstage presence?
 
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#2
MyTomomi said:
Hello Everyone! I'm currently having a dilemma on my current trio band. I'm losing my interest already after our third gig. Our leader is just not a good frontman for the band. His voice is bland (below average) and his personality on stage is non existent. He prefers to dial his amp during break rather than talking to the crowd. He sometimes forget a line or two and a few chords on a song. He is a great guitarist though.

He and the drummer are good dudes and I really want to be in the band. The drummer and I already suggested to the leader that we need a vocalist but he insisted that he will improve soon enough. I don't have time with that though, I feel embarrassed everytime we are performing onstage.

How important is good frontman for you? Will you leave a band if you don't like his voice and onstage presence?



Don't worry, our vocalist is not that terrible.

:)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can see and hear why you are embarrassed.

IMO, to move on.
 
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#5
"good front man" defined means??

1. Obviously a very good singer for the material you are doing. They don't need cheat sheets. They have good musical timing. They nail the notes properly.
2. Has a great presence. Engages with the audience. Is the focal point of crowd attention by their look, presence, movements, voice, whatever. They can't be a douchebag and be unaware of what's also going on behind them. They are ready to start the song when it's appropriate to start it. They don't blab on endlessly with the microphone such that it kills your momentum and puts people to sleep.

and I'm not even going to get into what it means for your singer to be a good band member as well (eg, on time for rehearsals and gigs and is prepared, not drunk on stage, is supportive of others in the band, helps out with set up and break down as needed etc.)

If it generally means those things listed above? Absolutely indispensable. A band is only as good as its weakest link, but if you have a singer who can't do the things listed above, you're pretty much likely to be not much as a band. but a very noticeable weak lead guitarist, drummer or bassist can pretty much kill you too.
 
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#6
Probably hard for a lot of us to admit, but a great vocalist will cover a sub-par band. A great band has a very hard time covering a sub-par vocalist. All band members need some type of engaging stage presence, especially a cover band. Frontman/woman has to keep the crowd's attention. As a bass player, I have fallen into the "stand-still in back between the drum and amps" zone, mainly due to space, but then it becomes habit. That is bad for the band.

My last band had a great frontwoman. She had a wireless and would go into the crowd, and even onto the patios of places to keep the people engaged. Where she went, the crowd followed. The crowd didn't care one bit about the band itself.

Good Luck with the second group.
 
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#8
Stumbo said:
Even if you are not the vocalist, you can get your own mic and be the front man between songs.

It takes practice, just like everything else.
Click to expand...
This ^

I was in a band a few years ago where we had 2 lead singers, neither of them were any good as a front man but the drummer was, and he couldn't sing a note.

He was in advertising and public speaking was part of his day job, he always seemed to know exactly what to say. When he had finished speaking he would switch off his mic and count the next song in.

My current band has 2 good front men who take it in turns, I am hopeless at it so keep my mouth shut (but do sing lead on a few songs).
 
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#10
I was involved with some guys, last summer, we tried two different female singers. Great voices, great performers, great presence, until halfway through the second set, then the booze kicked in and by the third set the guitarist was doing his best to sing.
Point is; the crowds loved these two ladies. No matter how bad they botched the lyrics, obnoxious they got, the crowds were bigger at the end of the night.
My other cover band was super tight. Very pro, but no stage presence. When a friend commented that I was the coolest guy in the band, I knew it was trouble. That band couldn't keep an audience to save its life.
Fans remember vocals first, guitars second, everything all is a distant third. But with personality and charisma often comes egotism, narcissism and all the other traits that come with a person who seeks the limelight. Be careful what you wish for.
 
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#11
The front person is most important, and hardest thing to find, in any band. He/she controls the flow of the show, and vocals are the one thing everyone notices.

Lots of bands with at least one mediocre instrumentalist but good vocalist who are huge successes, and lots of bands with another position with an amazing player and poor front person with less success.
 
#13
Look for ways to make things more engaging -- The Grateful Dead lost its charismatic blues frontman, Pigpen, in the early seventies. Because they had a more communal approach and because Weir and Garcia also shared frontman duties for different things -- Weir did his version of rock, and Jerry the folk singing and psychedelic stuff. Maybe your band can sort of do that? Maybe have some acoustic tunes? Work on harmonies so that you can play up the dynamic between the guys on stage?
 
#16
It depends what one defines as a 'front man'. David Lee Roth was never a great singer (decent enough for the music though), but the man could captivate an audience. Sure, amazing vocals will turn people's head to look, but if the lead vocalist is hiding behind their mikes, people get bored. I feel a great performer is immensely important for your front man.

A vocalist needs to be a great singer, engaging, captivating on a mic; a 'spectacle' (in a good way) when they are on stage. How does one find that? Good question. But if your lead singer is a major introvert, its an uphill battle. A lot of people forget the 'performance' aspect of live performance. I try to give it my all every show; and I constantly encourage my band to do more on stage and come out of their shells. I always say "the rhythm section should not be the most active people on stage, guys... you have to be moving more than the drummer and I do".

How do you get better on stage? Rehearse. Practice. Do it until its second nature. I put on a show every rehearsal. If you're not doing it in practice, you WILL NOT do it on stage in front of your tens or hundreds of fans.
 
#18
There's no rule that a bass player can't front a band! If you see a job that needs doing, do it! Although some people seem to make it seem effortless, there are skills involved that can be learned. Learning these skills will serve you well for a long time to come, long after this current back is gone.
 
#20
MyTomomi said:
Hello Everyone! I'm currently having a dilemma on my current trio band. I'm losing my interest already after our third gig. Our leader is just not a good frontman for the band. His voice is bland (below average) and his personality on stage is non existent. He prefers to dial his amp during break rather than talking to the crowd. He sometimes forget a line or two and a few chords on a song. He is a great guitarist though.

He and the drummer are good dudes and I really want to be in the band. The drummer and I already suggested to the leader that we need a vocalist but he insisted that he will improve soon enough. I don't have time with that though, I feel embarrassed everytime we are performing onstage.

How important is good frontman for you? Will you leave a band if you don't like his voice and onstage presence?



Don't worry, our vocalist is not that terrible.

:)

(disclaimer: we are not the band in the video. I just post it for fun.)
Click to expand...


More important than just about anything else.

Biggbass said:
ouch...I had to abandon ship before he finished the first line...

look at it this way...you have a car-with no steering wheel.
Click to expand...

You should have at least watched until the first chorus, it was.......amazing.
 

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